


Of Pets and Men

by AngeliqueBB



Category: Saint Seiya
Genre: Canon Compliant but just before Hades, Everything that came after the Hades chapter is ignored here, Fluffy and Angst and Humor, Lost Canvas is Canon though lmao, M/M, People actually act their ages in this one, Pets, Post-Canon Fix-It, Some kissing, Soul of Gold? Omega? Next Dimension? I don't know them, The Goldies are brought back after Hades, a lot of pets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-03
Updated: 2019-12-03
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:54:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21653308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngeliqueBB/pseuds/AngeliqueBB
Summary: The tale of the Gold Saints and their adorable furry companions.From their youth years to the aftermath of the Holy War against Hades, the animals always stood by their owners. Watching them fight, watching them lose and win, fall in love and die. And be brought back to life once more.
Relationships: Aquarius Camus/Scorpio Milo, Aries Mū/Leo Aiolia, Cancer Deathmask/Pisces Aphrodite, Libra Dohko/Aries Shion, Mentioned Past Gemini Saga/Sagittarius Aiolos, Phoenix Ikki/Virgo Shaka
Comments: 6
Kudos: 54





	Of Pets and Men

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! How are you guys doing?  
> It's the first time I'm writing something for this fandom in the English language. I've started writing Saint Seiya fanfiction when I was 14, and I wrote in my native language, Portuguese, and posted on the glorious Nyah website. (I pride myself of having written the famous proctologist fic) I dropped the fandom a few years ago, but now that I revived my love for Saint Seiya, I decided to write again... only that I now use english instead of portuguese in my daily life  
> This idea came when I was playing the Awakening game and you can - poorly - interact with the animals on the map and I just... what if the goldies had pets? :O And I shoved my ship bullshit everywhere because I'm weak.  
> You guys will notice the pace to this fanfiction is pretty quick, everything happens very fast because that's the idea here; I wanted to cover the story from aioros' treason until the saints were revived post Hades. 
> 
> It'll feel like someone is telling you a story and I actually like that. Anyways, please give it a try and tell me your opnions!

Mu loved animals more than he loved human beings. Be it furry or feathery, slimy or scaly, he appreciated their little companionship more than anything else.

That’s how he ended up being called a pet hoarder by Aldebaran, who had no right to call anyone a hoarder as he himself was a hoarder of multiple things. Including homemade beer and Japanese porcelain dolls. No wonder every time Seiya came to visit from Japan he brought another exquisitely delicate little doll for the kind giant.

Guess size isn’t an indicative of anything, really.

But back to Mu.

In fact, most of Mu's pets weren’t his, but strays from Rodorio who managed to wander deep enough into the Sanctuary to reach the first temple. They could’ve gone through the Aries temple, because as we all know, going through Mu really isn’t that difficult, but as the saint always ended up setting little bows with food for the wide-eyed furry guys, they never left the first temple.

So, as the years went by, Mu had a vast collection of twenty dogs, seventeen cats, a multitude of songbirds who stopped for some bird food and a lizard who Aphrodite suggested should be named Misty. It wasn’t a very particularly bright nor pretty lizard which added to the Pisces amusement. As long as the silver saint never found out about their little inside joke, everything was fine.

He had tried to name all the dogs and cats, but at some time they were just Dog, Dog, Cat, Dog, Cat, Dog, Dog, Dog. The names weren’t important, the most essential thing was coming back from a tiring training session and seeing a bunch of shiny eyes looking at him with so much love and happiness that everything seemed fine.

“You look like a Disney princess, you know that, right?” One day Aioria said from where he was standing, leaning on a pillar from the first temple. A few meters from him, Mu sat – without his cloth – surrounded by a bunch of cats who took turns receiving head scratches. Mu raised an eyebrow at his unexpected visitor.

“And you look like a man without a job. Why are you here and not in the Leo temple, where you belong?”

The blonde raised his hands in defense. “They’d had to get through you first, and… uh, I wanted to see you.” He approached Mu – who looked down with a slight, blushing grin – staring at the cats and being stared back by the entire bunch, a few scattering off when he tried petting them. “Thought they’d recognize a bigger cat and run of.” He nodded. Mu rolled his eyes.

“They just don’t like you.” He smiled. “After all, you’re more of a dog person.”

“Ironically as that is.” Aioria shrugged, sitting down and petting a cat who didn’t have a problem with him. As the Leo saint got positive reactions from the animals, he started petting them all, a swift smile on his lips, when his hand brushed against Mu’s. He wanted to grab the Aries hand, but slowly removed his hand. “My dog will go nuts with the scent.” He said when some of the cats started rubbing their tails on him, growing curious of the newfound presence in the temple.

Aioria was a very active person, that’s why he was a dog person, even if his constellation indicated otherwise. After his brother died as a traitor, he went through a very depressive phase, and being as young as he was, it was joined by rage for everyone else – including his allegedly traitor brother.

Back when they were kids, they were all gathered together in the same shelter for the first years of their training inside of the sanctuary, so it was very easy for Aioria to exclude himself or find solace in his burning rage when people – Deathmask or Aphrodite – provoked him. Only after most of them were sent away for their new training places, Aioria found some peace. He still remembered the day Camus went away for Siberia and Milo cried for one week straight.

He had expected to be sent away for training, he sort of wanted to be away from the Sanctuary, but at the end the Pope decided it was better to have eyes on him. As isolated as ever, the young Aioria found solace in Achilles.

After getting beaten up in a very unfair training session, he ran away from the Sanctuary to get some peace of mind. It was then that he tripped at a terribly misplaced rock and started rolling down a hill and nearly falling down a cliff, the rocks and water being the only thing to receive himself should he fall. The young man had accepted his death by such a stupid fall when a sharp-toothed mouth grabbed the back of his clothing and held him back from imminent death.

He couldn’t believe, but when he looked up, a slightly bigger-than-a-puppy shepherd dog stood by, his brown fur shining in the sunlight, a long pink tongue darting out from his mouth. Aioria couldn’t believe his luck that this dog decided to save him. It was an immediate friendship. He couldn’t take the dog, Achilles, to the shelter, but he managed to keep him around for years until he was qualified to acquire the Leo cloth.

Now, Achilles was older and his brown fur was starting to gray, but the canine was ever faithful to his owner and never lost his bright personality, his great courage and his strength, nor his playfulness, to Aioria’s temple neighbor’s pure terror.

“Aioria, your dog is a menace.” Shaka said, entering the fifth temple without saying ‘hello’ or ‘good morning’, as a polite person ought to do. Aioria sighed immediately, stretching on his armchair. The dog raised his head from the floor, curiously staring with his green-ish eyes towards the long-haired blonde.

“Good morning to you, too, Shaka.” He raised his eyebrows, wondering why the fuck did Shaka need to be dressed in his entire Virgo cloth to come down and bitch about his dog. “Achilles is just a dog, he’s not a menace to anyone.”

“He is! He managed to get inside my garden again, and not only stomped on my peonies, but he’s chasing my butterflies.”

Aioria stared at him. “You own butterflies?”

“They came with the temple, but they’re mine now and I can’t have you dog wandering there!” Shaka snapped.

The Leo saint looked down at his dog’s innocent face. “How did you even manage to get inside the garden? Damn, you’re really smart.”

“That’s not the point!” Shaka almost yelled, containing himself and reminding himself that he’s a man of infinite patience, holy from heaven to hell and from hell to heaven. “I’m just warning you to keep your dog in place or I’m going to fill an official complaint and you’re not going to have a dog anymore.” He somehow managed to narrow his eyes even though they were closed, and turned back, swishing his long hair as if he were in a shampoo advertisement.

Aioria rolled his eyes again, leaning back on his fluffy armchair and staring at Achilles. “You gotta stop eating his insects or we’re gonna have trouble, pal.”

Shaka heard the insects commentary, but ignored, making his way back to the Virgo temple. The holiest, the greatest, the most well-groomed of the temples, the only one to possess a holy garden that Shaka tried his best to keep healthy and beautiful.

Everyday, he woke early to take care of the plants, to water them, trim them, fluff the dirty around them. It was the only occasion in which him, Shaka, dirtied himself with trivial matters, and it was a very fulfilling job. Low class, surely, but nurturing the Earth and guaranteeing the pristine condition of the Virgo temple ensured his status as a Gold saint.

After taking care of the garden, he showered, brushed his hair for long minutes and dressed himself for meditation, a state in which he’d endorse for hours and hours. And then, in the insightful moment of meditation, he’d feel the first soft kiss of a butterfly.

The first time was weird and disconcerting, he didn’t enjoy the sensation in the slightest, found them annoying. There was no way to get rid of the butterflies that seemed to belong inside the Virgo temple, so Shaka learned to work with them. In the end, they helped him with relaxation. The softest kiss, the fluttering of their wings, dozens and dozens of butterflies flying around him with curiosity, watching the meditation, meditating with him.

Given a few years and Shaka loved them just as he loved his peonies. There were plates with sugared water, fruit and sweetened flowers all around the garden for the butterflies to feed on. Sometimes, Shaka found a cocoon and stood enchanted by it for quite some time. It can be distracting sometimes, but it was endearing.

Of course, they weren’t his pets. No, they were his assistants. A man as holy as Shaka didn’t have time to care for pets, he had to use his time for greater, more important stuff, like sitting around with his eyes closed and casually falling asleep.

(They were his pets.)

But Shaka wasn’t the only one to have a convenient pet.

Contrary to popular belief, Camus did feel cold sometimes. Not in the _“It’s -20_ _° Celsius, it’s fucking cold”,_ that never bothered him, but in the _“I’m in Greece, I’m wearing socks, it’s 24° Celsius, why are my feet so damn cold?”._

It made no fucking sense, but for someone who wasn’t supposed to feel the cold with any intensity, Camus sometimes found his feet feeling like cubes of ice. Maybe, he wondered, it had something to do with his own icy cosmos inadvertently lowering the temperature of his feet.

So that’s why Camus decided he wanted a cat. He needed a cat to sleep by his feet and warm him up during the night. It was a great idea, cheap, and it could chase away the rats that sometimes wandered inside his temple. Also, Camus secretly conceded, it fit his aesthetic.

A few days later and the Aquarius Saint arrived back into the Sanctuary with a cage and a bag of supplies. Mu raised an eyebrow at him, but said nothing because he didn’t want to pry, but he wondered why someone had the urge to buy what was presumably an animal when there were so many strays around.

Unfortunately, Camus couldn’t just find a cat fluffy enough to warm his cold feet anywhere, that’s why he decided to buy one. And, oh, what a magnificent creature it was, a white and grey Maine-coon big enough to rival Aioria’s dog back when it was just a large pup. It slowly walked out from its cage and the redhead stared, with analytical eyes, as the cat progressed inside of his bedroom. Camus had set two bows on the floor, one with water and one with food, and a litter box.

The creature, still nameless, walked around the room with a vigilant gaze and when Camus tried to pet it, it ran away and hid under his bed. The Aquarius saint stared down at the bed for a second and shrugged, expecting the cat to take some time to get used to his presence.

The problem was that the cat was taking too long, the poor creature didn’t seem to like Camus very much, avoiding being pet and sleeping absolutely anywhere except on Camus’ bed, as he intended. All in all, the cat experiment had been a disaster.

The other day, when the redhead was reading, he heard the telltale sound of his temple being trespassed by Milo, as it often happened. First Milo tripped over the umbrella-holder by the door, he always did that, then he went to the kitchen as started meddling with Camus’s food, grabbing an apple – that, admittedly, the Aquarius saint had bought for him – and then he invaded Camus’ personal space to talk and talk and gossip and talk endlessly.

Today, just as he was closing the refrigerator for the third time, the blonde shrieked and Camus raised his eyebrows, going to check on his friend. He found Milo in the kitchen, with the still nameless cat on his arms. “Who is this angel?!”

“That’s my cat.”

“Your cat?! Since when? I thought something from Mu’s zoological must’ve gotten away, but I would remember this big chunk had I seen it.” The cat, surprisingly, was purring under Milo’s ministration. Camus watched the scene with unbelief. “Why didn’t you tell me?!”

“It’s, uh… a new acquisition.” He informed. It was obvious the feline creature enjoyed Milo’s petting, damn, the cat must even enjoy Milo’s presence and that was a surprise. “I haven’t named it yet.”

“Really?” Milo put the cat down, who immediately started walking around Milo’s feet, swishing his tail. “He’s a big chonk, you should name him Chonk. Who’s the biggest Chonk?! You are!” As Milo started cooing at the animal, Camus then decided he was going to need the Scorpio saint around for some time in order to help the cat get used to him.

All for the sake of getting his feet warm, of course.

Camus did win the cat’s affection in the end, but it took him some time when compared to the cat’s instant love for Milo. Chonk, and it ended up being the cat’s actual name, had a terrible fear of the cat who lived upstairs, more precisely at the Pisces temple. Chonk was a large cat, a lot larger than Madeleine, but the white Angora owned by Aphrodite hated absolutely everyone that wasn’t his owner. A single hiss from the pure white female cat, and poor Chonk hurried downstairs.

Blue eyed and with shiny white fur, Madeleine was Aphrodite’s cat. Matching his owner’s godly beauty, Madeleine was charming, elegant, and hat a long, fluffy tail. The Pisces saint was often seen carrying the cat around ever since he got her. It was pretty solitary being in the last temple, truth be told, and the poisonous red rose garden didn’t seem inviting to anyone, really, so Aphrodite stood by himself most of the time with the few exceptions being Shura and Deathmask.

Madeleine came when Shura had been sent on a mission alongside with Deathmask and he was feeling lonelier than ever. The Pisces saint bought her and guaranteed the kitten wouldn’t be affected by the poison from the roses. Contrary to popular belief, Aphrodite’s blood wasn’t poisonous as the past Pisces’ saints had been. Technology had evolved enough to come up with a vaccine, so Aphrodite was immune to the poison, and so was Madeleine.

The bond between the cat and the owner grew strong pretty quickly, one could even imagine they could understand each other.

In fact, Deathmask was sure they could communicate because there wasn’t a single time he stepped into the Pisces temple and the blasted cat didn’t attack him. Ever since they were kids the Cancer saint had a massive crush on Pisces one. Aphrodite always laughed and winked back at Angelo’s pick-up lines, but that was as far as he went, much to Deathmask’s irritation. It was obvious Dite enjoyed the attention, he preened on it. However, it was a mere ego boost for the Pisces saint.

Deathmask suspected Aphrodite had asked the cat to attack him at any given opportunity to keep him away. Thankfully – or maybe not – the Cancer saint was a warrior, a man, and above everything else, an Italian and everyone knows that the Italian are the greatest of lovers. And a hot-blooded Italian wasn’t going to easily give up on love.

Aphrodite took care of his cat with much dedication. He brushed her everyday, cleaned her ears, trimmed her claws and applied lotion to the cat’s fur so she smelled divine, like peaches and cream.

“ _Bello_ , there should be someone here to pamper you as well.” Deathmask said from where he was sitting, at the floor, dutifully watching as the younger brushed the cat.

“Am I not pretty enough that I need to be pampered?”

“The blasted cat is pretty enough and yet, there you are.” Just as he said that, her large blue eyes stared at him. Deathmask shuddered.

Aphrodite showed him his tongue, letting the cat down after applying some lotion to her fur. “And who could carry such a burden to pamper me? I’m so hard to be pampered, darling, I mean, look at me! I’m expensive.”

“You sure look so.” He walked towards Aphrodite, sitting close to him. “Let me pamper you a little, _bello_ , why don’t you ever give me a chance?”

“Hum… I might consider that.” He said. He always said that. “And what would you do to pamper me, Angelo?”

Whenever the Pisces saint used his given name, Deathmask shivered. It sounded delightful on his small, painted-in-pink mouth. “I could brush your hair too, you know? I used to do that to my little sisters back in Sicily. And then, I could apply some lotion on your skin.”

“All my skin, Angelo?” He raised an eyebrow, smiling seductively. 

Before Angelo managed to say anything else, he yelped in pain. Down at his feet, the white cat had jumped on his leg as if it were a scratching pole, her claws slicing his skin open. Thankfully Aphrodite always trimmed them, otherwise the damage would’ve been worse. The Cancer saint pulled his leg upwards and inspected the scratch while Dite retrieved the cat, giggling at her.

“Baby is just trying to protect my virtue!”

“Your virtue, my arse! Since when do you have any virtue left?”

“That’s mean.” He pouted, still holding the cat. “Well, since you’re so hellbent on courting me, you’ll have to convince Madeleine you’re worthy. If you manage to do so, then I might give you that chance!”

Angelo gaped at him. “But your cat hates me!”

“Exactly, love.” And with that, Aphrodite kissed his forehead and wandered away. Fortunately, Deathmask was still an Italian man and he wasn’t going to give up so easily.

Despite being warriors, the gold saints tried their bests to keep their lives at least a little conventional, the little pets helped retaining their sanity when they lived in a complete madhouse. However, times were changing and conspiracy was springing everywhere. A false Athena? Saints that never seemed to be where they should be? Everyone felt Shaka’s and Aioria’s cosmos burn exceedingly high for no reason. And then, the Bronze saints invaded the Sanctuary and everything changed. 

Saga had usurped the Pope’s position, Shion had been dead for years, the fake Athena was actually the goddess herself and half the gold saints were dead. Once adrenaline wore down, once the remaining gold saints were sent back to their temples, Milo stood still at the entrance of the Aquarius temple. It was still pretty much icy, even after Athena’s cosmos managed to defreeze most of it. Milo stared and found out he couldn’t move.

He had felt it, back in Scorpio, when Camus’ cosmos burned and then disappeared, vanishing from this Earth. He didn’t believe it at first, couldn’t believe that his friend had been defeated. So, only during the final battle, he faced the truth.

And the worst of all, he had been the one to blame. He saved Hyoga’s life and sent him to be Camus’ executor. He should’ve killed him so he wouldn’t kill Camus. If there was some way to stop time, revert it back, he would’ve killed Hyoga. God, he couldn’t even glance at the young boy’s general direction without feeling so much hatred.

Milo couldn’t understand Camus’ motivation, even though he suspected he knew what the redhead intended. Camus, for all his cold demeanor, was a teacher above anything else and the love he had for Hyoga was huge, big enough for him to give up on his life in order to see his student succeed.

Just a shame Camus’ love for Milo wasn’t as big.

“It’s better if you let go.” Mu’s calm voice came from behind his shoulder.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to do that.” Milo answered, turning back. His emotions were overflowing, everyone could feel how tortured his cosmos felt, but his face was blank. Mu was standing so obviously close to Aioria, their hands touching, both grieving, but still having each other to lean on. Milo wondered if they’d sleep together on that night.

“Staying here will do you no good.” Mu continued, and Aioria nodded. Milo sighed, and agreed, walking away from the round temple and following them downstairs. His house was their next stop, save for a quick stop at Sagittarius where everyone sent a silent prayer in honor of Aioros, who now had his name cleaned. Aioria cleaned a single tear and they made their way downstairs, leaving Milo at Scorpio.

He was finally alone at his temple, ready to remove his cloth, take a shower and cry his heart away when he heard a rustle of fabric. His heart stopped, thinking it could be another hidden enemy, when it was just Chonk, the cat. Milo’s eyes widened and the cat ran to him, rubbing his fat body around his calves. The cat had been big when Camus got him, but it was also fat now because Camus overfed the poor creature.

Milo kneeled down, petting it with shiny eyes, tears rolling down. “I thought you had been frozen to death as well, big guy.” Milo said with a fragile voice. “And yet, you escaped!”

Chonk mewled, his big fluffy head seeking the comfort of Milo’s dirtied hand. “It’s… Chonk… Camus is dead…” He told the cat because he needed to tell at least someone. The cat mewled again, maybe it already missed his owner, maybe it knew what had happened.

The weeks passed and it was hard to deal with loss, but having Chonk around helped, somehow. Everyday, Milo went downstairs to the cemetery, the cat a faithful companion, to deposit flowers at Camus’ grave. Mu watched him with a sad smile, giving Milo a few flowers as well so he could make an even bigger bouquet.

It really isn’t hard to deal with loss, but having someone with you might help.

Which didn’t apply to poor Madeleine. During Aphrodite’s fight with Shun, the Pisces saint had locked her on his bedroom, afraid of having the cat interrupting the fight and getting killed in the process. He had also fixated a little sign at the door indicating that, should the worst happen, she was to be sent to the Aries temple.

The worst did happen, Mu went upstairs – proof that he was, indeed, a blessed soul, going to the furthest temple just to fetch a cat – and tried to catch her. But just as he opened the door, the cat sprang forwards and started running around the Pisces temple like a madcat. Mu had to use his light speed to grab her, and even so, she didn’t want to stay put, scratching and hissing at him.

After some time, he managed to set her inside the cage and while meowling loud enough to bring Shaka outside, made his way back to the Aries temple.

“Why are you torturing this poor soul?” Shaka asked, frowning at the cat’s loud growling.

“Aphrodite instructed for me to retrieve his cat and bring her to stay with me.”

“She clearly does not want to, though.” Shaka pointed the obvious. He was pretty good at pointing the obvious. 

“Yes, but someone has to feed her.” Mu nodded and continued his way.

Thing is, Madeleine was a ferocious little beast without his owner around and Mu didn’t know what to do. She was being aggressive to the other animals, she didn’t accept to be brushed nor have her nails trimmed. Most of the time, she disappeared from the Aries temple, returning for some food, and then disappearing again.

Her behavior remained like that for weeks and Mu decided there was nothing he could do besides provide her food and water.

Things were a little better at the Sanctuary, after all the grief started to wear off. Aioria came to visit almost everyday, they talked, they cooked together, they played with the animals, sometimes they kissed and sometimes Aioria stayed the night. Ikki was seen going upstairs weekly, doing God knows what, but Mu suspected he was having some sort of special training sessions with Shaka. God knows Ikki awakened something inside of the Virgo saint that even Mu, who was pretty close with Shaka, couldn’t tell exactly what.

One day, Milo returned from the cemetery with Chonk, Camus’ cat that was now his. He was more emotional than usual, so Mu approached him. “Did you know that Aphrodite’s cat is roaming the cemetery?” The blonde said.

“Is she?” Mu asked, surprised. “I always wondered where she went.”

“Yeah… she was sitting on top of Dite’s grave.” Milo sighed. “She used to hiss at Chonk anytime she saw him, but she didn’t even lift her head when we approached.”

Mu stared at him and nodded slowly, suddenly understanding everything.

The white cat could be spotted resting on top of the grave. She didn’t always stay around during the night, but she was napping on top of the grave when something woke her up. A cracking noise, loud enough to make the cat jump in fright, echoed through the cemetery. Quickly, the cat hid herself behind a pillar.

Hades had begun with his diabolic plan to assassinate Athena using her own deceased saints. Deathmask’s grave was the first to crack open, the Cancer saint slowly lifting himself from his former grave, testing his muscles, cracking his joints. Just as he was cracking his spine, a giant white cotton ball jumped on his thighs.

“Holy!” He yelled, frightened, only then noticing that it was nothing if not Aphrodite’s diabolic cat. “You?! You devious creature!”

But to his surprise, she didn’t stab him with her claws, but rubbed her head against his chest, trying to reach his face. Deathmask watched with shock as the cat that had once been a menace purred happily. He tentatively touched her white fur, finding her a lot less groomed, but still fluffy and soft. “Huh… guess I had to fucking die so you would like me.”

Deathmask, being the one who was dead for the longest, was the first to rise, being followed by Shura. “Is that Dite’s cat?” He asked, surprised. “What is she doing here? Thought she hated you!”

“You come back from the dead and that’s the first thing you ask me?” Angelo sneered.

Camus followed, asked the same thing as Shura, and then Deathmask explained that he also had no idea. Camus nodded. “I hope Chonk is fine… it’s been months.”

“Your boyfriend must’ve taken care of him.”

“Milo and I weren’t lovers.” Camus informed, taciturn as always.

“Yeah, bullshit.”

Before they could start arguing about something as trivial as that, Aphrodite’s grave cracked and the beautiful shape of the Pisces saint emerged from the cracked stone, looking as spectacular as he was when he was alive. Shura helped him out of the grave – just because he was a show-off, that one – and Dite shook his head, also cracking his joints.

“Now that’s a merry gathering.” He said with a smile, turning around to count the faces and seeing Angelo sitting on his own grave, the white cat on his lap. Dite’s eyes widened. “Madeleine?!”

The white cat jumped on him, meowling happily and demanding attention. Dite hugged her with delight, surprised that she was around at such a moment. “What are you doing here, my girl? Oh, dear, Mu hasn’t been brushing you, has him? I’m going to murder that bitch for not grooming you properly.”

“She was around when I woke up. Jumped on my lap and asked, or better yet, demanded I pet her.” Angelo said, lifting himself from the stone.

“I saw her on your lap!” Dite laughed, incredulous, and looked at Deathmask, looking as good in death as he did in life. “Guess she finally started liking you, huh…”

“I only had to die for it.”

“Trivial.” Dite said, petting the cat and batting his long eyelashes. He approached Angelo and kissed his lips out of nowhere, making the other two gasp and Angelo himself freeze on the spot. “Oh, come on, I said that if you managed to get along with my cat, I’d give you a chance.”

Deathmask nodded, dumfounded, and when realization hit him he smiled and hugged the Pisces saint, the cat between them, and kissed the air out of the Pisces saint. Camus turned away, feeling the whole “love in death” atmosphere a little too much for him, and Shura wondered what the fuck Hades must be thinking seeing them all lovey-dovey like that. But again, if they wanted to convince Hades that they were in love with the idea of being alive again, then some kissing could help.

Then Shion appeared from behind a pillar with a look that said “well, about time”, apparently the old man – that was now a beautiful twink once again – had been around this entire time inspecting their surrounds and organizing their plans. Saga was the last to arrive, and it was good he was the last because he was hell-bent on finishing their masterful plan and didn’t feel like talking about anything if not killing Athena.

Dite and Deathmask exchanged a glance at Saga’s posture, but no one said anything.

They gold specters started their fight. Shion had to grasp his heart in order to keep himself from saying anything when he saw the huge amount of dogs and cats around the Aries temple, hidden and protected behind the Crystal Wall. Mu had turned into a caretaker, much like himself. Shion would’ve love to sit down and talk with his disciple, his son, but he couldn’t do it. When Shion destroyed the Wall and took great measures not to hurt the animals, a different gleam shone on Mu’s eyes. Shion knew in that moment that his student also knew.

No one said anything, though.

There was too much in store.

Back from hell, back in hell, the Gold saints had to fight against each other before they realized everybody was on the same side. Camus was so glad he was blind because had him been able to see the look on Milo’s wet blue eyes, he’d fall on his knees. There was so much pain as the specter saints, feeling Athena’s blood on their hands, returned to Hell.

As he was being turned into dust once again, Shion looked one last time into Dohko’s eyes. It was as if they were back in time, 200 years ago when they were young and foolish, the youngest of the gold saints, but look at them now. Young, in shape, but with a soul as old as time.

He opened his mouth to say one last goodbye, to say one last ‘I love you’, to remark on how unfair it had been for them to fall in love so deeply with each other and be unable to be together. Only that he had already turned into dust and the final sight had been Dohko’s eyes, watery and green.

Shion hadn’t been at the Wailing Wall, which Dohko expected, but it still hurt.

It was a pain the in arse, dying and reviving and then dying and reviving once again.

Ikki sort of knew the drill, he really did, he died once a month just to keep his balance stable. The Sanctuary was being rebuilt, Seiya was still in rehabilitation after being stabbed by Hades’ sword and Shun was around to take care of him. Hyoga had gone to France for – surprisingly, university – and Shiryu was back in China, caring for Dohko’s unfinished business at Rozan.

There was peace, real peace, ever since the final battle at Elysium. It was weird, having actual time to care for their lives. Hyoga had gone to university, for fuck’s sake! Ikki, on the other hand, never knew what peace was; even when they were kids he had to care for Shun so he didn’t really know what to do with his newfound free, peaceful time.

That’s why he ended up helping with the Sanctuary reconstruction, because at last that offered him some work to do and a way to keep his head off the gutter. People had found it weird to have someone as antisocial as Ikki working and actually obeying orders, but he was a changed man. Not only because of the fight with Hades, but because of the time he spent with Shaka before he died.

Shaka was a weird man. He thought too much of himself, loved the sound of his own voice and swore not to find himself surrendering to mundane pleasures and yet spent hours taking care of his luscious blonde hair and soft peachy skin. How Ikki knew that, well, was just another poof Shaka wasn’t as much as a saint as he liked to think of himself.

Ikki missed him and worked his body to exhaustion to forget his feelings while lifting the heavy stones to rebuild the Aries temple, the one they were having the greatest work yet because of the shocking amount of animals around. What was it with Mu and animals? Ikki sighed and shooed a fluffy white cat, who hissed at him. Ikki stared at him and hissed back.

A changed man, indeed, but not one to accept being hissed at.

Later that week, when they applied the finishing touches to the Aries temple – they started from Pisces – Athena gathered everyone to inform she was going to attempt reviving all the Gold saints with her cosmos and power. Ikki stared at her, completely shocked with the news, and a warm flame burned inside his heart. Not the sort of burning rage he was used to, but a fluttering burn of emotion and hope. He looked at Shun, standing by Seiya’s wheelchair, who looked back and opened the brightest of smiles, winking at him. Ikki looked elsewhere before his young brother managed to catch him blushing.

And the gold saints were revived.

There was a big ceremony, every single remaining saint attended, everyone wearing their clothes and standing expectedly around the Athena temple. People couldn’t contain themselves with excitement and wonder, to witness such a huge display of power and, of course, to see the gold saints once again. Ikki noticed, with some slight worry, that the white cat that used to hiss at him was patrolling around, followed by a very large gray and white cat. Some strays from the Aries temple were around just as the butterflies from the Virgo temple. He noticed with a pang to his heart that the animals could sense their owners were coming back.

He couldn’t see Aioria’s dog, though.

Everyone cheered with delight as the gold saints made their way into the Athena temple, some of them bold enough to hold hands in plain sight, too happy with their new life to bother covering anything. Huh, Ikki thought, saints were prohibited to take wives or girlfriends, but there was no law against saints taking other saints.

Which, of course, explained the high rates of male only couples.

Kiki teleported himself on top of Mu, scaring the shit out of the Leo saint who didn’t see it coming. Everyone gasped at the kid’s lack of composure, but as Athena herself started laughing, everyone followed. It wasn’t a moment for being ceremonial anymore, it seemed, because what everyone really wanted was to get a big hug and say hello once more.

Ikki himself broke his loner demeanor to go and say hello to Shaka, who was already being entertained by his young brother. The blue of Shaka’s eyes was the purest, the perfect reflection of that day’s sky, and Ikki forgot what he was going to say when he looked into his eyes. Oh, bother, constantly making a fool out of himself in front of the blonde.

Shaka, on the other hand, found it endearing.

Shiryu was telling Camus about how Hyoga couldn’t be here because he was now studying at a French university, to which Camus widened his eyes and covered his mouth, turning to the side for a quick moment. “He’s such an intelligent boy, I expected no less.”

“And you must be proud of him.” Milo said from his left.

The Aquarius saint glanced at the Scorpio one. On both of them, the weight of a thousand unsaid words, mistakes and regrets and so much fear of rejection. It emanated from their cosmos and both knew there was much to be done in order to fix things between them.

Shiryu, sensing the whole untold story, backtracked very slowly and went back to the safety of Dohko’s wide smile.

The strays from the Aries temple, though, were probably the happiest of them all. All the dogs and cats were avid to get some attention from Mu, who was crying tears of happiness at still being well-received by his beloved pets even after so much had happened. Aphrodite was, and some people couldn’t stop ogling, kissing the hell out of Deathmask, the white cat on his arms. Chonk was being carried by Milo.

But Aioria looked around expectedly. “I can’t see Achilles.”

Seiya sighed. “I’m sorry, Aioria, but he passed away this morning.”

Unfortunately, there are some things that can’t be brought back. Of course, the Leo saint wanted to grief his companion’s death, but he held Mu’s hand firmly and smiled sadly, imagining something like that was prone to happen at some point. Achilles was, after all, an old dog and being without his owner had been the last straw for the poor canine.

It was part of life. They, the gold saints, were the luckiest to be brought back despite death coming to claim them. Maybe dogs also had a heaven and a goddess to rub their bellies in the afterlife. With so many smiles and tears of joy around them, Aioria conceded it wasn’t time for that because he now had something else he hadn’t for a very long time.

Aioros had been revived as well and what a wonder it was to see his older brother again… even if he didn’t look like his older brother anymore. Most of the saints were 22, Deathmask, Shura and Aphrodite one or two years older, Saga and Kanon were 28 and so was Aioros supposed to be, hadn’t he died when he was 14. Thing is, Aioros returned with his 14 years-old body and it was very difficult for Aioria not to feel protective of the teenager talking to Athena.

“I find it weird as well.” Seiya said, noticing where the Leo saint was looking. “I mean, I’m older than Aioros now!” He whistled.

“You’re really not.” Mu reminded him. “He might look 14, but he’s a wise man.” And he looked at Aioria. “Don’t forget that.”

All in all, everyone was pretty happy.

Save for a few exceptions.

In fact, Shura stayed back during the ceremony and when it was time to return to the Capricorn temple, he was the first one to go down in order not to have anyone following him. Sitting down on his bed and wondering why the fuck had him been revived, the Spanish man stayed up all night, only managing to fall asleep when the Sun was high and shining.

He had always believed himself a great man, a loyal man, a fair man, and now that everything had been said and done, he found out he had been wrong all that time. He had almost killed Athena and he had killed Aioros. God, he had killed him and now he was back looking like exactly how he was the day Shura took his life.

It was a ghost from the past that came to torture and remind him of all the injustice he had committed.

So, with this new life, he was going to work himself to death. No fun, no proclivities, no going out, he was to become the same as the statue inside of the Capricorn temple, an ever-vigilant shape that had nowhere to go. His heart hurt and his head swirled, but that was the only way to repent.

And Shura would be happy to do so if, in the next week, during a very regular morning, Aioros hadn’t invaded his temple like it was routine. He wasn’t even wearing his cloth, the Greek Sun shining and illuminating his – not dead – golden skin like he was made of the same material as their clothes. Shura froze on the spot and the Sagittarius saint smiled, having to look up to connect their gazes.

“Hey, so, I know we have beef between us and we should probably talk it out, but I don’t really hold anything against yourself and neither should you. Would you like to come with me and pick up a new dog for my brother? Despite everything else, I’m still his older brother and Mu just told me Aioria had a dog, a shepherd dog, and the dog died a few days ago and Aioria is trying to conceal it, but he’s pretty sad about the whole thing and I want to cheer him up and, huh, our temples are pretty close to one another and I guess we…” He probably could’ve gone on and on with the talking if Shura hadn’t yelled him to stop. Aioros blinked at him with his huge green eyes. “Uh… sorry?”

“What. Are. You. Doing. Here.” Shura said, very slowly.

“Inviting you to come and pick a dog with me.” He recited.

Shura groaned. “I have no interest in doing anything if not my job, I…” A strong pang of guilty hit him at that sentence, reminding him that killing Aioros had also been nothing if not his job at that time. Thinking of that disarmed him, Shura standing with his mouth agape and still.

“I killed you… why are you seeking me out?” Shura asked, pained.

“Oh, that.” Aioros nodded, smiling. “You know, I have been dead for quite some time, fourteen years and a few months to be more precise, and I had enough time to think about that and forgive you. In fact, I forgave you around year two of being dead.” He winked playfully. “I just want us to forget all of that and tie our hands. We’re the saints of Athena, we can’t defend our goddess and save the planet if we can’t even look into each other’s faces.”

He was right, of course, but it wasn’t that easy for Shura. His sense of moral and justice had been torn apart, it was a bit too hard for him to forget anything now. Nevertheless, the easy smile and the youth on Aioros’ face was something the Capricorn saint desired. Oh, how he desired it.

“It’s really not that easy.” Shura sighed, allowing himself to look vulnerable for a mere second before his stern expression took place. “I need time, much time.”

“Mora than two years?” Aioros questioned.

Shura rolled his eyes. “Yes, maybe more than five.”

“Woosh…” He nodded. “Then we gotta a lot of work to do. Let’s go!”

“Let’s go…?” Shura asked, unbelief all over his face. “Didn’t you hear anything I just said?”

“Nope, guess I came back from the dead, but my hearing stayed at the underworld. Crazy world we live in, right? Let’s go!” And he grabbed Shura’s arm. “Nothing will be solved if you just isolate yourself inside of your temple, we gotta work it out together. Also, my temple is a few stairs above yours and I’ll be a damn pest if you don’t cooperate.”

The greatness of Aioros’ smile was capable of blinding. It blinded Shura’s senses for a few seconds, believing it was possible to just mend things as quick as that, but the Capricorn knew better. He had much to work.

For now, though, he didn’t feel like arguing and went down the temples in the companionship of the man he murdered 14 years ago.

In fact, what a crazy world we live in.

Aioros picked a new puppy for Aioria, an infant Golden Retriever with a lilac bow tied around its neck; a female, this time. Aioros was as centered – maybe even more – as the gold saints, a man of justice, of honor and of unconditional love for Athena and goodness in general. His personality was the brightest, and the fact he remained a teenager still impacted in the way he acted. He petted all the dogs, talked with a few of the cats, even played with a lizard. All that while Shura – who had removed his cloth before leaving the Sanctuary – watched.

Once again he was feeling the pangs of guilty and shame, realizing he had removed that young man’s right to live peacefully. Just as Shura started getting down into the pits of despair again, Aioros surged right in front of him, a black ferret tied around his neck like a scarf. Shura stared down at the animal, who stared up at him.

“It must like you!” Aioros exclaimed, extracting the furry noodle and shoving it at Shura, who clumsily picked it up. The noodle looked at him, stared at the pits of his soul, emitted a high-pitched squeal and started swirling around his arm.

How Aioros convinced Shura to take the freaking ferret with him, well, that was something the Capricorn saint was still thinking about when he returned to his own temple, the animal peacefully resting around his neck. Before he successfully joined the solitude of his temple, Pisces Aphrodite was going downstairs and stopped dead on his tracks at seeing the Spanish man.

“What is this around your neck?” Dite giggled, approaching Shura who crossed his arms. “Oh, dearest, you got yourself a ferret?!”

“Courtesy of Aioros.”

“Huh.” Aphrodite nodded, petting the animal’s black fur. “He’s a ray of sunshine, that Aioros.”

“Tell me about it...” Shura sighed, entering his temple and being followed by Dite.

All temples have a residential area, very protected and right at the core of the temples, heavily concealed by pillars and walls. After the reconstruction, technology had been allowed inside the Sanctuary; they were lucky this Athena’s reincarnation was such a modern young woman, so the heavy traces of Saori Kido that still lived within the goddess were a given at the end. Shura cracked open a beer for him and for Aphrodite, both sitting down at the couch and talking for a while.

Dite had the same speech as Aioros, although a little less cheery and more nonchalant, true to the Pisces personality. “We’re back, we’ve got a new chance to make things good and, you know what, to have fun. It’s a wonder my temple is the closest to the Goddess, I spent some time talking with Athena and she’s such a cheeky young woman. We even exchanged nail polish brand between ourselves. I like her.”

“She’s a goddess.”

“Yeah, she is, but she’s also human. And so are we.” He winked. “And I know very well what humans like to do, and I was right on my way to do it when I ran into you.”

“You’re terrible.” Shura chuckled. “You and Angelo, always have been.”

“It’s our charm.” Dite kissed Shura’s cheek and finished his beer. “I’m off to the Cancer temple, then, and you, stop prosecuting yourself.”

Yeah, yeah, Shura was going to work on that. At some point.

For now he could drink himself to sleep. With the ferret. Shura was going to cuddle the ferret.

The other day, Mu was returning from the village with a huge bag of dog food when a small kid, a kid he had no idea where it came from, tripped down the Aries stairs. He stood still, staring curiously, until the kid lifted themselves and quickly cleaned their clothing.

He watched, mesmerized, as the kid ignored his presence and continued to ran down the stairs to the entrance of the Sanctuary, disappearing a few seconds later behind a pillar. Mu opened his mouth a little too late to inquire how that kid got access to the Sanctuary, then shrugged and entered his temple.

A few days later, the Aries saint saw the same kid going upstairs in a hurry and that was a little too much for him to ignore. He summoned the Crystal Wall and watched with some slight satisfaction when the kid hit the invisible wall and fell down on their butt. Heh, nice, he’d never get bored of that trick. Mu remembered that when they were teenagers, as soon as he learned to conjure the Crystal Wall he would constantly make Aioria smack his face on it.

It was just the beginning of a childhood crush that presented itself in the shape of violence.

But back to the kid.

“Who are you and why are you attempting to pass through the Aries temple?” Mu inquired, having summoned his cloth in a second.

The kid looked around eleven, had dark frizzled hair and olive skin. It was impossible to say their gender as their clothes were simple, cotton pants and a soft tunic, similar to the old-fashioned style most of the saints still wore.

“I’m Genevra.” They said in a high-pitched voice, crossing their arms on top of their flat chest after massaging their forehead. “And I’m going to the Taurus temple!”

“Are you?” Mu questioned, unaware of Aldebaran taking kids under his wing. “And what business do you have with Aldebaran?”

“I’m his child!”

And that destabilized Mu with such strength that he let go of the Crystal Wall for a second too long to allow the kid to run upstairs. The Aries saint stared at the kid’s back with stunned silence, thinking about what he just heard.

It was a crime for the saints to take wives or, even worse, to have kids. Very similar to the celibate from the Christian Church, it didn’t start because holy men couldn’t be seduced by mundane desires like sex, but because holy men couldn’t have heirs to pass down their belongings, in fact, to pass down their cloths. So that’s the justification to this old law, even more so, because the Athena Saints were never untouched by carnal desires... towards each other.

For a week Mu debated with himself if he should bring the cause to Athena. He liked Aldebaran, he was one of the easiest guys to have around and he never bothered anyone. But it seemed so wrong! Such a disobedience! Not only to sire a kid, but to bring and hid it inside the Sanctuary?

As Mu decided to go up to the – sigh – Athena temple, he started going upstairs when he found Aldebaran himself at the entrance of the Taurus temple, carving a piece of wood with a knife.

“Good morning!” He said with a large smile, always polite and cheery. Mu sighed, feeling disconcerted with Aldebaran’s cheeriness when he was on his way to prosecute his friend. Oh, well, it wouldn’t be too bad to stay for a while and find the truth behind his law-breaking.

“Morning.” Answered the Aries saint, removing his helmet. “Deba, there’s... something I ought to ask you.” He paused at the Taurus’ expectant gaze. “Why did you bring your kid into the Sanctuary?”

Obviously that wasn’t what the Brazilian was expecting, because he dropped the carving knife directly on top of his – hopefully – cloth-clad feet. “C-child?! I don’t have any?!”

Mu stared at him sceptically. “Who is this Genevra kid, then? A fruit of my imagination, perhaps?”

“Oh, them.” Aldebaran sighed. “It’s a long story, but they’re a refugee kid from the north of Africa. I saved them right at the second week after being revived. They don’t have any parents nor family, they... all died trying to get access to Europe. Genevra was the sole survivor.”

“Oh.” Mu softly said. “So, they’re not yours?”

“No, of course not, but I noticed they really miss their parents so I became a father figure.” He couldn’t hide the pride on his voice. “They’re staying at the Sanctuary shelter for trainees, but Genevra always comes to visit me.” He smiled, picking up his carving knife from the floor. He was working on a boat, a very elaborate piece. Probably a gift, Mu noticed with a pang to his heart. “Athena is aware of that, in case you were thinking of going up and pressing charges against me.” Aldebaran winked, making Mu blush with shame.

“No, not at all... well, I was just going up to see Aioria.”

“Dressed in full Aries attire?”

“It’s... his kink.” He deadpanned, making Aldebaran’s bushy eyebrows rise.

“Well, I didn’t need to know that.” He barked a laugh. “Anyways, have fun.”

Mu nodded, still feeling a little embarrassed after the short conversation. Oh well, guess he misunderstood the situation. But how couldn’t he when the God forsaken kid referred themselves as Aldebaran’s child? Now he had to go upstairs and find something to do somewhere because he damn well knew Aioria was at Sagittarius getting some sacred bonding time with Aioros, the pest. He could stop for some tea at the Pisces temple, maybe? Aphrodite would like to know about this Aldebaran gossip.

The Gemini temple was as silent as tomb ever since Saga was brought back from death. Mu stopped at the entrance for a second, thought of announcing his presence verbally, but as he imagined the temple was either empty or unwelcoming, he progressed upstairs silently.

Saga was inside, though, on his bedroom, where he had been ever since the resurrection ceremony ended.

Almost like a hermit, Saga woke up, grabbed something to eat – something oily and sweet if he managed – and absconded himself inside his private chambers where he stayed the entire day, locked from the world outside. The golden box of the Gemini cloth stayed untouched, a somber reminder of his duty but incapacity to do so.

He didn’t want to be brought back. He wanted to remain dead.

In death he couldn’t do any harm, in death he didn’t have to live in fear of madness taking control of his mind.

That’s why he stayed locked inside his bedroom, far, far away from anything that could tempt him. After the ceremony, when he peeled the Gemini cloth off as if it had been poisonous, he swore to himself not to wear it again.

At least he had the small mercy of his temple being one of the firsts; having the quiet, gentle Aldebaran as a neighbor and Deathmask – who cared for nothing if not diligently honoring the Cancer cloth again and screwing the brains out of Aphrodite – he was left alone. He enjoyed quietude, but it was obvious he wasn’t just being left alone, he was isolating himself.

The difference between him and Shura was that while Shura wanted to work himself dead in order to honor the Capricorn cloth once again, Saga was dead scared of touching the Gemini cloth and being seduced by his hunger for power.

Saga thought he was being sneaky, that people would forget about him after some time, but obviously he was wrong.

Contrary to popular belief, Kanon had been revived as well. As a shadow, as someone who was used to be in the background, during the resurrection ceremony he just lingered on the background. Without the Gemini cloth and dressed in plain cotton and linen, no one payed much attention to him. The Andromeda saint had noticed his presence, and being such a gentle young man, he came to say hello and be thankful for Kanon’s sacrifice. Kanon, being the nonchalant bastard he was, made no big deal out of it.

He had left the Sanctuary the following day, with Athena’s permission. He had spent much of his life either hidden away or plotting against the Gods, what he wanted the most now was to see the real world. Travel for a bit, get to see people who didn’t live to please the Gods, wear polyester clothing, get drunk with strangers and maybe fall in love with somebody else.

Kanon had many plans, but a month later he saw himself coming back to the Sanctuary. Well, yeah, he thought, guess you’re never really free once you’re in deep shit. But it was okay, in the end he had some great love for Athena and for a very select and small amount of people living in the Sanctuary. Kanon didn’t have any particular feelings for Mu, thought Aldebaran was a very chill guy, got Deathmask, Shura and Aphrodite drunk for the first time when the kids were 13, despised Aioria and his brother, had a problematic crush on Camus when he came back from Siberia all sharp and elegant and broke Milo’s nose once.

A great relationship with everyone, all things considered.

But he really wanted some time away from Saga. God, Kanon thought just as he entered the Sanctuary, he loved his brother with all his heart, but Saga’s never-ending bitching about everything was something he didn’t want to deal with right after getting out of the tomb. Even though there was no tomb, in fact, Kanon had managed to disintegrate himself in entirety, alongside with that blonde specter that smelled strongly of whisky and, honestly, Kanon could relate.

What he had not expected was to walk back into Gemini, drop his bags on the floor and find Saga naked on his bed, eating ice cream and looking fucking dead.

“What’s going on?” Kanon asked, perplexed.

Saga lifted his head, eyes wide with shock and embarrassment at being caught like that. He quickly let go of the ice cream bucket, dropping the mess on top of his lap, making the situation even worse. Kanon let out a pained sigh. “God, you’re a fucking mess without me, aren’t you? Go take a fucking shower and I’ll change your sheets.”

“I’m not a baby.” Saga said, all his serious demeanor countered by the state he was in. You can’t be serious if there’s ice cream on your dick.

“Yeah, and I’m Mother Theresa. Just go and we’ll talk later. And stop eating this garbage, you’ll get fat.”

Kanon didn’t even know why he tried talking to Saga, because his older twin was insufferable, and not only that, drowning in self-pity. Pathetic, to be honest, and Kanon didn’t want to deal with that, he really didn’t, but wasn’t his sole purpose in life to suffer in name of Saga’s misdeeds?

So, before he smacked some sense right in Saga’s face, he decided to let go of the situation for now and seek council with Athena. She did summon him in the first place, didn’t she? Not only that, but the dusty state the Gemini Pandora Box was in troubled the younger twin. Saga wasn’t wearing his cloth and that simply couldn’t be.

Athena was a Goddess and Kanon learned to respect her, but Saori Kido was a whole different matter. He walked into the Athena temple after a quick stop at Scorpio (apparently Milo and Camus finally worked their obvious huge crush for each other, huh, took them a decade…) and announced his presence, finding the Goddess accompanied by the Pisces saint, both of them manicuring their nails.

Right, sure. He shrugged.

“Well, I’m back.” Kanon saluted, Aphrodite looking at him with surprise for a second and then nodding.

“I thought for a second Saga had removed himself from his self-inflicted isolation. But it’s you.”

“I called Kanon back to the Sanctuary so he could help us with that matter.”

“You want me to kick Saga’s arse? He’s not gonna like that.”

“No, not exactly that.” Saori said. “Why don’t you sit down with us for a second so we can discuss the excellent idea I had?”

Two hours later Kanon was returning to the Gemini temple carrying a large cage covered in white linen. He wasn’t sure this method could work with Saga, he never showed any particular love for animals like, Mu, for example, but Aphrodite guaranteed that the same thing had worked with Shura.

Saga was in a better state now, dressed in comfortable clothing and his long hair damp from the shower.

“What’s that?” Saga asked as soon as he saw his brother returning to his private chambers. His eyes narrowed. “And why are your nails pink?”

“They match my eyes, you should try it.” Kanon deadpanned. At Saga`s pitifully confused gaze, he added. “Aphrodite’s courtesy. I was talking to Athena and he happened to be around. Anyways, that’s not the point. You need an intervention.”

“A what?”

“You’re drowning in self-pity, everyone at the Sanctuary knows that, and you need to do your work as the rightful Gemini saint.”

Saga opened his mouth to say something, stopped himself and sighed. “I can’t… I can’t be tempted anymore.”

“Saga, whatever was inside you is gone for good. You’re not evil anymore!”

“How can we know for sure? I don’t want to wear the Gemini cloth anymore. You could do it!” Saga said, distant hope in his voice. “The cloth answers to you just as it does to me!”

“It’ll not answer to me while you’re alive.” Kanon said. That didn’t bother him anymore. “You’re the rightful owner and you’ll cease this madness right now! People need you, people trust you and your knowledge, your wit.”

They could’ve gone on and one, but Kanon wasn’t going to let Saga degrade himself more and more like that. So, he dropped the cage on top of the bed while his brother was rhapsodizing about how he was going to fall from grace or whatever cheesy bullshit he was uttering and removed the linen covering. Saga immediately stopped his ranting.

“…bunnies?” Saga asked, perplexed.

“Yeah, bunnies. A bunch of them.” Kanon opened the cage and unceremoniously grabbed a white bunny and shoved it in his brother’s arms. “Athena suggested bunny therapy for you, at least once a day. They’re all castrated so don’t worry about them fucking around.”

Saga stopped, completely frozen on top of the bed, the bunny on his arms twitching and looking around, the white fur so freaking soft and cute that it felt wrong to be held by his calloused hands. The red eyes looked at Saga and he gasped, turning the small animal on his hands, checking the adorable round bum tail. As the cage had been opened, two other hopping bunnies came out of their confinement and hopped around the bed, Saga looking at them with absolute wonder.

Kanon wasn’t sure of what was going on until Saga started to cry and try to hug all the bunnies at once.

“There, see, if you were evil you wouldn’t like bunnies. Evil people despise bunnies.” Kanon said, still a little shocked at his brother’s fragile display of affection. Guess even demigods can fall in love with a bunch of hopping bunnies. Kanon smiled, sitting down on the bed and picking one of the animals, playing with its ears. “You’re gonna be okay, Saga… it’ll take some time and it won’t be easy, but I’ll stay around to help you. And so’s Athena. And the bunnies.”

Saga sniffled. “I must look so pathetic to you.”

“Nah.” Kanon chuckled. “You looked pathetic with that ice cream all over your dick, now you just look cute.”

They stayed like this for a while, Kanon quietly brushing Saga’s hair, cuddling him while the older twin cuddled the bunnies. It felt very familiar to them, cuddling together and doing nothing, similar to what they did when they were kids, before everything went to flames. Maybe it was time they fixed their issues.

Athena, being a Goddess, had some ounce of omniscience, so she sort of could sense how happy the twins were. She smiled, sighing with happiness, glad that the idea had worked out for now. “Thank you for the suggestion. If I had mentioned the idea had been yours instead of mine, I believe Kanon wouldn’t have liked it.”

“It’s okay.” Aioros smiled, playing with a yellow flower he had picked for Athena. “It’s… pretty hard for me, thinking that everyone is so much older and have gone through so much while I feel like you were a baby just a few weeks ago. I don’t know how I’m going to approach Saga again, maybe I never will because of our age difference.”

She smiled sadly. “I think he’ll stop blaming himself at some point, and then, you could try something.”

“No, I’m a kid now and he’s reaching his 30’s, he won’t even look my way and I’ll be glad if he doesn’t.” Aioros shrugged, putting the flower back from where it had came from. “But, my Goddess, I have so many other reasons to be happy now. I’ll keep helping Shura, and I know Saga will have his brother’s help. I can see my brother again, he’s so strong and handsome and he has a boyfriend! I’m so happy to be able to see everyone again, I’m…” He stopped, overridden with emotion. “I’m so happy to be here again… I… am so happy to see Athena has turned into such a strong young woman.”

The Goddess cleaned both of their tears, joining her hands with Aioros’. “I hope we can maintain peace for as long as we can. It’s all that I desire… not only just for human race, but because I want to see you all, my beloved saints, having a chance to live life.”

And peace would follow for years and years to come, for the people living outside of the Sanctuary, for the strong and brave saints and for the furry little companions taking such great care of the warriors of Athena. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks! Please send me your opnions, it's very important, and follow me on instagram so we can discuss anything you like, saint seiya or not! @ mellflowers__


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